Bronzino

Bronzino, born Agnolo di Cosimo in 1503 and dying in 1572, was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence. His nickname may refer to his relatively dark skin or reddish hair. He lived all his life in Florence and from his late thirties was kept busy as the court painter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was mainly a portraitist, but also painted many religious subjects and a few allegorical ones, including what is probably his best-known work, Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, from about 1544 to 1545, now in London. Many of his Medici portraits exist in several versions, since Cosimo was a pioneer of the copied portrait sent as a diplomatic gift.